Step Up for Students is currently accepting applications for the Florida Tax Credit and Family Empowerment scholarships. Step Up administers five scholarship programs:

• Florida Tax Credit and Family Empowerment scholarships for lower-income families.
• Gardiner Scholarship for children with certain special needs or unique abilities.
• Hope Scholarship for public school children who are bullied.
• Reading Scholarship Accounts for public school students in grades three to five who struggle with reading.

The application and all required documents must be submitted by June 1, 2021.

Step Up will continue to accept applications after June 1, but cannot guarantee those received after that date will be processed in time to receive a full award.

To apply now, click here.

This week, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed CS/SB 72, which provides crucial liability protection to individuals, businesses, educational institutions, religious organizations, and health care providers for liability claims related to COVID-19.

“As we move forward in our state’s economic recovery, this good piece of legislation will provide Floridians with greater peace of mind as they go to work, go to school, and go about their daily lives,” said Gov. DeSantis.

Among other measures, CS/SB 72 provides immunity from COVID-19 related claims for individuals, businesses, schools, and houses of worship if a good faith effort was made to comply with health standards and guidance related to COVID-19.

To learn more about CS/SB 72, click here.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has directed states and territories to get all teachers, school personnel, child care program educators, and other child care program staff members their first coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination by the end of the month. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has developed a short survey to learn:

• The estimated number of staff in child care programs who have received a COVID-19 vaccination.
• Their reasons for getting vaccinated.
• The vaccination concerns or challenges that people who have not been vaccinated may have.

Use this survey link (i.e., https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/covid19vaxchildcaresurvey) and share it with your networks and encourage child care providers and staff to complete the survey.

• You can complete the survey between now and March 31.
• The survey is completely anonymous; individual responses will not be reported.
• If you receive the link multiple times, please complete the survey just once.

After the data collection period has ended, the CDC will analyze the responses and share a summary of the results with the Administration for Children and Families and other national organizations.

Thank you for supporting this national directive to prioritize our child care workforce for COVID-19 vaccinations.

The Department of Children and Families’ Child Care Program Office offers a tool for child care facilities to advertise available positions.

The Employment Bulletin Board is a tool to help child care directors and professionals find jobs that require either a Staff Credential or Director Credential.

Child care programs can use their license number to post an ad to the website. An individual who has either credential will see the ads through their training portal on the main menu under Job Listing.

Use your facility license number exactly as it appears on your Child Care license to login, click here.

Child Care Aware will host a COVID-19 Vaccines Webinar at 8 p.m. Thursday, March 18. You can learn how COVID-19 vaccines impact the early child care and education field. To register for this free webinar, click here.

The webinar will discuss how the vaccines were developed and tested, and answer common questions about the vaccines including how to access them and what to expect. You will hear from child care providers who will share their experiences with the COVID vaccines, as well as a pediatrician who will share more about how the vaccines work.

If you’d like to submit questions in advance of the webinar or after the webinar, please send them to learnmore@usa.childcareaware.org

Babies learn at an amazing rate and reach important new milestones every month. Baby Navigator is a free online platform that offers resources to families and providers to track and support their children’s early learning and language development.

At Baby Navigator, providers can find information, tools, and charts – customized for all children of all abilities ages birth to 24 months – to track development and growth milestones. Resources include skills look books to track the development of gestures, social communication growth charts to track language development, development charts to track milestones reached and those approaching, autism signs checklists, and hundreds of video clips on how to support children’s learning in everyday moments.

Baby Navigator can help providers enhance learning experiences during this critical time in a child’s life. To learn more, click here.

The Early Learning Coalition of Osceola County will present the 2021 Leadership and Management Conference on March 25, April 1, April 8, and April 15. The conference, intended for child care owners and directors, will be held virtually online via Zoom.

Topic include:

• All About You
• Keeping Staff Motivated in Uncertain Times
• Change Management
• Speaking for Success

There are 70 spots available for each session. To reserve your spot today, click here

The Early Learning Coalition of Osceola County will host the “We are all in this together!” Practitioners Virtual Conference on Saturday, March 20. The 2021 Speaker Series will feature Jack Hartmann, Juelie Perry, and Lisa Murphy.

There will be raffled prizes valued from $25 to $500. CEUs will be provided. To register today, click here.

FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND FAMILIES — According to 65C-22.001(6), Florida Administrative Code, all child care personnel are required to complete 40 hours of mandated training. The training must begin within the first 90 days of employment in the child care industry. These trainings can be completed in an instructor-led environment or completed online. In choosing the online option, once the student starts a course, they have 45 days to complete the course.

As we chart our way through this unprecedented time, the Department of Children and Families (DCF), Office of Child Care Regulation, continues to explore options to support the child care industry. The Department issued an EO allowing a six-month extension for the completion of competency exams. Because these exams are primarily conducted on local college campuses, which have limited availability, we are extending the deadline for completion of competency exams to May 3, 2021 and continue to work with providers on this requirement to ensure non-compliance citations will not be issued. Where feasible, Child Care Regulation will offer technical assistance to assist providers with achieving these training requirements.

In addition, Child Care Regulation has also extended the ability to allow for completion of online courses beyond the 45-day requirement. For those students who enrolled in an online class as of Jan. 28, 2020, and later, they will be allowed additional time to complete the course. The course will remain open so that students may review the materials prior to taking the competency exam. At the time of inspection, if child care personnel have not had an opportunity to complete training because of limited access to competency exams, our counselors will not monitor sub-standards 33.1 and 33.2 in facilities (8.14 and 8.16 in LFCCH). Technical assistance will be provided in order to assist with meeting this requirement.

CONDITIONS: Please note that this extension does not mean that providers should not continue pursuing these requirements. Exam locations continue to become available, and some child care personnel may need to travel to a neighboring county to complete the testing.

If you are experiencing challenges, please do not hesitate to contact your licensing counselor so that this information can be appropriately documented in your provider record.

CONTACT INFORMATION: If you have any questions or need clarification regarding this guidance, please contact the Child Care Training Information Center at 888-352-2842.

• Child Care Regulation Training Memo for Providers.pdf

Florida Prepaid College Savings Plans has launched its annual Open Enrollment with five plans starting at $45 a month, each built for flexibility and guaranteed by the State of Florida.

In a recent study conducted by the Florida Prepaid College Foundation Board, more than 90 percent of Florida parents say college is more important than ever or just as important in the wake of COVID-19.

Last year, Florida families purchased more than 50,000 plans, committing to their children’s future even as the pandemic hit.

Anyone who enrolls in a Florida Prepaid Plan during the month of March or April will save $25 on enrollment using promo code ELC2021. For more info, click myfloridaprepaid.com.